One-Pan Sausage, Peppers, and Polenta
Cured sausage and dried peppers in one skillet, with polenta stirred in at the end to soak up the fat.
- calories
- 760
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 84
- protein
- 31 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dry-cured smoked sausage | 10 oz | summer sausage or Spanish chorizo, no refrigeration needed |
|---|---|---|
| Dried bell pepper strips | 3/4 cup | |
| Dried onion slices | 1/4 cup | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Instant polenta | 1 cup | the 3-minute kind, not stone-ground |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Dried oregano and rosemary | 1 tsp total | |
| Tomato powder | 2 tbsp | or one squeeze packet of tomato paste |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Cover the dried peppers and onion with 250 ml of hot water in your mug or a bag. Leave them 10 minutes while the fire settles into coals.
- Set the skillet over the grate. Add the oil and the sausage cut into coins. Cook until the edges darken and the fat renders out, about 5 minutes.
- Drain the peppers and onion, saving the soaking water, and add them to the pan with the garlic, oregano, and rosemary. Stir for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the soaking water plus enough fresh water to reach 600 ml total. Stir in the tomato powder and bring it to a boil.
- Rain the polenta in slowly with one hand while stirring with the other. It seizes if you dump it.
- Cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring, until it pulls away from the pan. Pull it off the heat, salt it, and let it sit two minutes before eating.
This started as a home skillet supper and lost the parts that need a fridge. Fresh Italian sausage becomes dry-cured sausage, which is already cooked and keeps for days in a pack. Fresh peppers and onions become dried ones, and their soaking water goes back into the pan rather than down the ground, because that is where the flavor went.
Polenta is the reason this is one pan instead of two. It cooks in the same liquid the sausage rendered into, so the fat ends up in the grain instead of pooling. Add it slowly and keep stirring; instant polenta thickens fast and lumps are permanent.
Packing
Polenta, tomato powder, and the dried herbs and garlic go in one bag. Peppers and onion in another so you can start them soaking first. Sausage stays sealed until camp.
Variations
- Grate hard cheese over the top off the heat. It is no longer dairy-free.
- A handful of dried kale or spinach in with the peppers adds bulk for almost no weight.
- Swap the polenta for instant grits if that is what the store had.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/pages/6-one-skillet-meals-to-add-to-your-weekly-rotation